Box Score
SANTA CRUZ (2-25) – UC Santa Cruz played their semifinal game of the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament taking on Salisbury University at Kaiser Permanente Arena. The Banana Slugs outscored the Sea Gulls by fifteen in the first quarter and never trailed en route to a 66-53 victory.
The Banana Slugs started the game on a 13-0 run capped by a three pointer by
Amanda Inserra with 6:32 left in the quarter. The Banana Slugs would gain their largest lead of the quarter at 27-10, on a
Lindsay Zientek layup with nineteen seconds left and led 27-12 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Banana Slugs would gain their largest lead of the ballgame at 35-16, on an Inserra three-pointer with 5:06 left in the half. The Sea Gulls would go on a 14-6 half-ending run, capped by a Hailey Ader layup, to trim the Banana Slugs' halftime lead to eleven at 41-30.
In the third quarter, the Banana Slugs would gain their largest lead of the quarter at sixteen, at 50-34, on a
Kaylee Murphy free throw with 5:36 left in the quarter. The Banana Slugs entered the fourth quarter up 56-42, but the Sea Gulls started the quarter on a 9-4 spurt, capped by a Lauren Fortescue layup with 2:00 left, to trim the Banana Slugs' lead to 60-51. The Banana Slugs would hit their free throws and closed out the 66-53 win.
Murphy had a game-high 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Banana Slugs.
Ashley Kowack had 15 and Inserra had 14 in the victory.
Fortescue and Kaylee Otlowski each had 16 points to lead Salisbury, who finished the year 20-6.
The Banana Slugs shot 39.7% (23-58) from the field, 46.2% (6-13) from the three-point line and were 73.7% (14-19) from the free throw line. UC Santa Cruz's defense forced fifteen turnovers by the Sea Gulls and the Banana Slugs outrebounded the Sea Gulls 44-34.
The next game for the Banana Slugs will be tomorrow in the Coast-to-Coast championship game against top-seeded Christopher Newport University. Tip off at Kaiser Permanente Arena is set for 1 pm.
